Kellogg School charts a new course with ads

Most ads for university executive education programs stick to a tried-and-true formula: They show a stately logo and a list of courses, and then expect the phone lines to start ringing.

That's fine, if you're the only game in town.

Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, sensing that executives can pick and choose programs the way Ivana Trump shops for shoes, is getting more aggressive and more provocative in its attempt to woo young executives looking for an edge.

In the first major branding attempt behind its executive education programs, the university has tapped Leo Burnett to develop a series of national print ads with big, bold headlines and thought-provoking ideas in the hopes that they can keep executives from shopping elsewhere.

The campaign, breaking this week in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other business publications, is sure to raise the stakes as the job market continues to improve.

But in a twist, the campaign doesn't do what many schools did in the go-go 1990s and make promises it can't keep. Instead, Burnett delivers confidence in a more uncertain business climate.

In an ad for forensic accounting, for example, the print ad shows a photo of a company's 2004 annual report on a table under the headline "Gold Mine? Or Land Mine?"

Another shows empty offices with a number of telephones lined up on a file cabinet. Unclear whether the phones mean that the company has folded or is about to open for business, the headline reads "The before or the after?" The ad is for a series on mergers.

"There was no real differentiation between schools," said Jonathan Hoffman, Leo Burnett executive creative director, who oversees the campaign. "It's inviting them to be secure no matter what happens. It's trying to convey that you can have the security you need to handle whatever happens."

Burnett was picked to handle the campaign in a review last year.

McD's ending Speedpass: McDonald's Corp. said it is in the process of ending its use of Speedpass, a quick-pay, cashless payment system, in the Chicago area, as it evaluates other quick-pay programs.

Speedpass had been up and running in 440 restaurants. McDonald's will make the full transition away from the program by midsummer.

McDonald's is talking to various credit-card companies, including MasterCard, about different types of cashless transactions that include readable devices embedded in credit cards. It is looking for one program it can use throughout its entire system.

Chemistri loses Topolewski: Hot on the heels of the departure of CEO Patrick Sherwood last week, Chemistri, Leo Burnett's dedicated unit servicing General Motors, lost its chairman and chief creative officer. Gary Topolewski left the agency to take the co-chief creative officer post at BBDO's Detroit office to work on Chrysler. "Although Gary has promised to remain with the agency for a transitional period at our discretion, we're disappointed with the timing of his decision and we are looking carefully at the circumstances surrounding his recruitment by BBDO," said Tom Bernardin, president of Leo Burnett Worldwide. However, what the agency means by an investigation is not clear. A spokeswoman for Burnett wouldn't elaborate.

Harries to CEO of FCB: Jonathan Harries, chief creative director of ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide and chairman of the Chicago office, adds the title of CEO of FCB Chicago. Co-managing directors Mark Pacchini and Mark Modesto move up to co-presidents of the office. The moves follow former President and CEO Dana Anderson's surprise jump to DDB Chicago last week to become its president and CEO.

Harries becomes the first creative to take the top reins at FCB since co-founder Fairfax Cone ran the agency decades ago. "We're getting back to our roots in a weird way," said Harries, who denied that the post was on an interim basis. "Chicago is the No. 1 priority for me."

Pacchini and Modesto are closely tied to client S.C. Johnson, one of FCB Worldwide's most important accounts.

On the move: Beth Fuchs Brenner, vice president and publisher of Self magazine, was named to the same post of the new home-focused version of the shopping magazines Lucky and Cargo being developed by Conde Nast Publications. The new magazine is expected to launch in 2005. . . . Adrienne Hayes promoted to group director of consumer products and services at Dome Communications.